Okie dokie, you all know I’m more into exercise and badassery than weight loss (and my crabby tone hereafter is sending clear signals that I’m ragefully hormonal at this moment) but I get this question alot, so I’ll speak to it. It goes something like this: “I exercise and eat healthy, but I can’t seem to lose this last 5-10 pounds. What do I do?”
Now, I do actually understand this because I have five pounds I like to slap on myself with excessive cake, and it sometimes irks me to no end (like when I’m ragefully hormonal and least equipped to deal with it) but I’ll get into that in a minute. Because I believe everyone is different and there is no one solution, I’m gonna throw out some possibilities for this question of the willful last five. Here goes.
-It is possible you have hit an exercise plateau by doing exactly the same thing day in, day out. The quickest way off the playa is to try something completely different (assuming you already do both cardio and weight training regularly, which you should) so feel free to go all mental in your workouts. Otherwise you are stuck with trying to change intensity or duration of what you do now, and you can do that, but it’s often just easier to pick up a friggin’ jumprope or try a new sport or something than run seven miles with intervals instead of six.
-It is possible that your version of eating healthy is still not gonna get you the weight loss you want. If you are hellbent on changing this, I can’t give you a formula (because I don’t believe in ‘em) but a generally helpful and yet depressingly fucked step is to keep a rigorous food log for a couple weeks at least. You might find some foods kind of hop on there that you barely remember eating. If you read it over and see no room for change at all, take it to a professional and ask for assistance.
-It is possible that you are suffering from a li’l bit of body distortion, a relatively common thing in this society we live in, blah blah. But really, sometimes I hear “I wanna drop five pounds” and I think, “from where exactly? Are you going to remove brain matter?” It is actually nice to have tits and ass, y’know (um, if you are female) and perhaps your five less pounds would give you that gaunt, skeletal look popular among celebrities but annoying when those standing next to you get stabbed by your jutting hipbones.
-It is possible you have become enamored with a scale number that doesn’t mean shit. Do other measures of progress say you are looking the same? Do your clothes fit the same? Don’t fall in love with a number because it was your skinny high school weight or some such bullshit. Baby, lose that number…
-It is possible you have turned 30 or 40 or 50 or you have some hormonally-driven thing happening like breastfeeding or even PMS and that’s what’s giving you such a hard time. Hormones tend to change (i.e. be patient) but the age deal means it may be a bitch and a half to drop the final five, and perhaps not really worth it, to be honest. If you are determined, you may have to go balls out or something. Sorry to be the bearer of the news.
-It is possible you know exactly what it is you need to do, but you say “I don’t know how to lose it” when you mean “I really don’t feel willing to do what it would take to lose it.” Welcome to my neighborhood. See, I know that if I scale back sugar and excessive trail mix and shit like that, I’d see a drop, but because I’m so damn complicated I’d probably have to do a dare or something to motivate me, since lord knows waking up every morning and telling myself “Today I won’t go crazy on sugar” has done exactly shit for me. Usually I’ve discovered I’m unwilling to commit to abstaining by about 3 p.m., after I’ve talked myself into consuming twelve things I intended to skip and basically told myself, “I’ll start tomorrow.” Crackety crack head, but hey, I am what I am, and I know if I go public I’ll have a better chance of staying true, but I’m not willing yet, so there you have it. And that tells me I don’t care enough yet. So I’ll ride this train while I can, and please note, my five pound drop is exactly the point that leaves me a little sleeker, but still with an ass.
Feel free to live in possibility (bleugh) and add shit if you want.
Another perfect post! I think I’m one of the “enamored with a scale number that doesn’t mean shit” people, because I want a number that starts with a “12″, not a “13″ which means absolutely nothing, really, if you can run and jump and swing a kettlebell and your clothes fit, right?
leslie
November 7th, 2007
Maybe we should start calling it “the first five” instead of “the last 10″ so that we can reframe our sense of urgency!
MG
November 7th, 2007
It is possible, and in fact probable that I have at least some of each of those things going on…except that it’s that last 20, not 5.
Given that, I’m throwin’ down.
I know we discussed this dare before, Kelly, and it never quite got traction so I’m going public.
Until New Year’s Eve:
you - one serving of desert a week until New Year’s Eve. One allowance of surprise sugary love made by a direct descendant, unlimited on Thxgiving and Xmas.
me - a mere 10 pounds. I’ll post my stats after Friday’s weigh in.
Piece of cake.
Let the Fitness Fixators decide the fate of she who fails.
girlscientist
November 7th, 2007
Awesome post, as usual.
To me, the purpose of that aiming for that “last 5-10 lbs” is really about fooling myself into not gaining the previous 20 or so back.
I somehow think that if I ever said: great, now I’m perfect!–then I’d quadruple my cupcake intake to compensate.
Part of me is quite happy with where I am, but that “fantasy five” seems more like positive motivation when I’m doing battle with Tempting Treats. Whereas “don’t backslide and gain a bunch of weight, you idiot,” is not as inspiring a goal to shoot for as my pretend five pounds.
Crabby McSlacker
November 7th, 2007
i’ve made it a mental game, I want to lose another 10 lbs so I better shoot for 20 and I’ll feel good when I do get the 10 off. sorta like setting your clocks ahead 10 or 15 minutes and “run late” but get there on time!
Kerri
November 7th, 2007
So I can blame hormones or being over 40? well, maybe…I am addicted to crunches and not the ab kind. An oral fixation of many. yeah, I know, carrots or celery, but they don’t give me the pleasure that Goldfish crackers do. Some regression in there as well? I saw girl scientist in TJ’s the other day and she inspired me to “buy right” without saying anything….Thanks GS !
Mary
November 7th, 2007
how bout a colon cleanse? or 2? or 3? maybe that’ll satisfy the number-obsessed.
or maybe a detox diet? safely done, of course.
rebecca
November 7th, 2007
Very timely post for me! I, at times, have been in each of those categories… But lately, I was in the one where I knew what I needed to do to lose the 5-10 pounds I wanted to but was unwilling to just do it. Well, since Nov. 1, I’ve only been eating protein and veggies– no sugar, no carbs. Not even fruit. I set a very short time limit for myself. Just 10 days. It’s been amazing. I am eating all kinds of stuff that I NEVER eat– and really enjoying it. I’ve lost 5.5 pounds in a week. I know, I know. It’s not healthy to lose weight really fast, and it will just come back. But I’ve lost 45 pounds over the course of a year and kept it off for two more years… Then slowly, slowly, slowly that number started to creep up. It was time to pull out drastic measures.
Jen G.
November 7th, 2007
I am sooooo in camp “I really don’t feel willing to do what it would take to lose it.” I can maintain a relatively tiny body through exercise and eating normally (no fast food but no deprivation either). In order to lose 5 more pounds I would have to sacrifice and I am not sure I want to do that or that it would be the best thing for me psychologically. I also don’t want to be an unnatural weight (where I have to diet to maintain it) cause I ‘m not looking for a life of flagellation.
Maybe I’ll keep a food journal and see what my intake actually looks like. But since I have commitment issues, I’m gonna have to make that a big maybe.
Tracy
November 8th, 2007
I would have to say the diet is the hardest thing to follow than the workout routine, but that’s what keeps the extra pounds off. I’ve been a size 34 in the late 90’s and then grown to a size 38 in mid 2000’s, then back to 36 again in 2005, but now am maintaining at 36-37 inches no matter what I eat. I think it’s my body getting used to the diet and the workout routine.
No cardio for now, just lifting weights to gain a bit of muscle. I heard that muscle helps the body burn fat, so the more muscle I put on the more I burn fat faster.
It’s a good tradeoff, don’t ya think?
DC
November 10th, 2007
I was wondering, since our body adapts to our exercise regimen, doesnt that mean that we have to keep increasing the intensity of our exercise? Isnt that like a downward spiral?
ling
November 12th, 2007
WOW Jen G. Awesome!!!
MG
November 12th, 2007